Kochi, May 4 (IANS): In response to the impact of climate change on fishing communities, the ICAR-Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute (CMFRI) launched an initiative to create awareness among the fisher folk in Kerala's Ernakulam district.

As part of the awareness campaign under the National Innovation in Climate Resilient Agriculture (NICRA) project, scientists of the institute explained the science behind climate change, its effects on fishery and the adaptation strategies to reduce its impacts on the livelihood of the fisher community of two major fishing villages in the district.

According to scientists, increasing sea surface temperature results in the migration of many economically harvestable fish stocks to relatively cooler waters, leading to a shift in fish distribution, thus affecting the fish catch.

Additionally, rising temperatures are leading to decreased oxygen levels in inland water bodies, posing risks to aquatic species and making them more susceptible to diseases.

During the interactive session, the fisher community of both villages flagged their issues, including lack of marketing facilities and poor catch.

To address the issue of reducing the shelf life of locally harvested fish due to rising temperature, the CMFRI distributed ice boxes to the fisherwomen, besides providing gillnets, cast nets, pots and sea bass fish seeds during the programme.